Very interesting - "Black Vetyver Café" by Jo Malone is one of those fragrances that develops very differently on paper and on the skin (at least for me).
Malone presents this scent as "The aroma of roasting coffee beans. A robust, beautifully bitter coffee note is steeped in the smoky depths of vetiver and temple incense." After a slightly silvery-peppery opening note where coriander and incense from the heart and base already announce themselves, with a very slight citrus overtone, I get this dark, roasted, smoky coffee note on my skin after about a minute. This intensifies and rounds out with the support of vetiver - the less I apply, the darker and blacker the hint of smoky coffee, the more I apply, the more silvery the coriander becomes. On paper, however, there is hardly a hint of coffee from beginning to end, but a strong vetiver. In this composition, several molecules are obviously working in conjunction with the skin chemistry to bring out this defining and titular coffee note, which holds potential for quite different reactions depending on the wearer. So definitely test it multiple times on your own skin!
The further development is quite linear; one could also say: not much happens anymore... Unfortunately, with the exception that later the scent always becomes slightly sour on my skin, a rather unpleasant transformation that can occasionally be observed. Incense at this point is rather weak, as is a slightly herbal, green-mossy, woody vetiver, a rather dull base beneath the still present coffee. Unfortunately, this is not wearable for me. On paper, the silvery-spicy coriander-pepper note lasts much longer into the drydown, a spicy green vetiver scent, but for me, without coffee...
Therefore, definitely a recommendation, and please test on the skin!
Yatagan 13 years ago 